Baltimore, MD - Notre Dame of Maryland secured its first conference win of the season with a 2–1 victory over Penn State Abington on Saturday afternoon at Alumnae Field as Leah Acri provided the fireworks for NDM.

The Gators struck first in the 25th minute when Leah Acriwas able to score on a beautiful Malaika Habib cross to make it 1–0 on a counterattack that was set loose by a Alex Busick long ball. Penn State Abington answered just four minutes later as Meghan McGinly headed in from close range on an assist from a Kaitlyn Frank corner kick, sending the teams into halftime deadlocked at 1–1.

The decisive moment came in the 83rd minute, when Acri netted her second goal of the afternoon. Madyson Costello was able to fight through a couple of defenders down the right wing and put in a cross that found Acri on the back post as she cooly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, giving NDM the 2–1 advantage.

Despite being outshot 20–7 and conceding 12 corner kicks, the Gators' defense, anchored by goalkeeper Leah Hasberry (3 saves) and the defensive line including Kathryn Degrange, Jillian Seay, Addison Barry, Ariana Rodriguez, and Sophie Wisniewski, held strong down the stretch. Acri led the way offensively with all three of NDM's shots on goal, converting two of them.

The win improves Notre Dame (MD) to 2–5 overall and 1–0 in conference play, while Penn State Abington drops to 2–5-1, 0–1. The Gators will return home to take on Penn State Harrisburg on Wednesday, October 1 at 4 PM.